BN Gang of Four take to basketball to reach out, repair tattered images

Hot on the heels of Prime Minister Najib Razak's 'cool' campaign, four BN lawmaker 'dudes' are now trying to reach out with a basketball match to break the ice with the public in a bid to repair their tattered political images.

The four are MCA vice president Senator Gan Ping Sieu, Umno Deputy Minister of Higher Education Saifuddin Abdullah, Umno Youth Chief and Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin and MIC MP for Hulu Selangor P Kamalanathan.

In a joint statement, the four parliamentarians said they would be playing a basketball exhibition match on November 9, during the Finals of the HSB-KLBA Basketball Championships at the MABA Stadium in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur. The event will start at 7.30 pm and is a prelude or "warm-up" to the #YBsCanJump Basketball Tournament, to be held on Nov 19, 2011.

"We will be playing with and against several national players as well as the Malaysian Basketball Associaiton (MABA) office-bearers during half-time of the Finals. Admission is free and the public is very much welcome to view the event," the gang of four said in the statement.

"Naturally, we are excited about the exhibition matches on Wednesday. This is probably the first time four Members of Parliament, including two Deputy Ministers, will square off in a basketball match. At the very least, we hope Wednesday will help in our preparation for the #YBsCanJump Tournament."

'Cool' the latest ploy

The HSB-KLBA Basketball Championships was launched on Oct 9, 2011 by Saifuddin with the aim at promoting basketball at the grassroots level and across ethnic lines.

According to the statement, #YBsCanJump originated from Twitter, where the four had first mooted the idea of a 3-on-3 basketball match.

"Some of our Twitter followers then expressed interest in participating, after which we came up with what is now known as the #YBsCanJump Tournament. We will announce more details about the upcoming event during a media conference just before the Finals of the HSB-KLBA Basketball Championships on Nov 9, 2011," they said.

Najib, who has come under severe fire after a series of scandals has tried to use a new approach to regain public trust. An August poll showed his ratings plunging 6 percentage points to 59 per cent after ordering a severe crackdown on the Bersih rally for free and fair elections.

There was speculation he had hired a fancy public relations team who had acted for former UK premier Tony Blair. Indeed, Najib has of late taken care to appear on several popular morning talk shows on radio, using 'cool' language such as 'awesome' and even 'dudes'.

Malaysia Chronicle